Mission Mission

Turns out last night’s buckets of rain did more than just make people feel scared/cozy. Humphry Slocombe laments via Twitter that the store has been flooded, which not only is surely causing lots of headaches but also has damaged copies of their newly-printed recipe book. Luckily they’ve probably got some bourbon on hand. We’re sorry, guys! Chin up!

Aunt Bill’s “Stuff” on Valencia is one of my favorite boxes filled with junk in the Mission (and there are a lot of boxes filled with junk in the Mission). On recent visits, their stock included vintage poison bottles, purple fur coats, a R2D2-shaped beer cooler, this Jacksons record, and half a dozen Eames chairs.

They’ve just opened up a second floor of stuff, and with it, a sparkly disco ball to entertain you while you poop.

Since these guys put the FUN in Funraiser, you may consider putting the FUND in Fundraiser tomorrow (Friday). Seriously, Artists’ Television Access is a neighborhood gem. For almost 30 years they’ve been delivering all kinds of cool stuff to your face holes.

ATA is at 992 Valencia, near 21st.

Prolific tipster Raun has sent us a new area observation. Now open to debate: Does this Mission Street sign for Pizza Joint seem to advertise a much less delectable savory treat, the Pizza Taint? Raun’s graphic designer housemate thinks so.

Fear not, Mission purists, maybe these tech startups that you love to hate are on their way out, or so says this good-bye note that sexpigeon brought to our attention. Local startup Branch, some kind of conversation-having platform (’cause you know, who wants to go through the trouble of having a real one), laments:

San Francisco is just too nice. The nature is too accessible, the architecture is too Victorian, and the weather is too perfect. The quality of life here is unrivaled. But I feel like I haven’t earned that yet. One day, I’ll bike across the bridge and meet my family at Mill Valley Beerworks.

For now, I miss the grit and grime of New York. It is real and raw, and the commotion of the city is contagious. Startup life is characterized by constant motion and tenacious tinkering, not hikes on Mt. Tam and brunch in the Mission, and the pace of life and breadth of humanity in New York is invigorating. I like to tell people: New York is like coffee. You know it’s not good for you, and you don’t really like the taste, but you just can’t get enough. The rush, the jitters, they’re addicting, as are startups.

[via sexpigeon, be sure to read his response, which mentions sweaters and hookers]

Update:

It seems like this place has been boarded up for years, because it has. The restaurant, which shares a name with an Indian TV show about conjoined twins who share a liver, will finally open this May. According to the sign seen above.

Apparently the same people have a spot of the same name in Palo Alto. I asked my friend and collaborator, Palo Alto resident Tanuj Chopra, what he thought about it and he said the food is fine and they have a solid reputation in the peninsula. About the style of their temporary sign he said “it’s interesting as the spots here are not graf or urban or edgy – feel like that’s just a temporary look or maybe a different marketing direction for SF.”

Well, they wouldn’t be the first to welcome themselves to the neighborhood by throwing up some “edgy urban artwork”. And maybe it does capture the feel of the establishment, according to the owner, this outlet will be a “high energy” 200 seat Indian tapas restaurant and bar. I guess we’ll see in May.

Duc Loi Market at 18th/Mission officially kicked off its brand new kitchen today, and the star of the show is the “Authentic Vietnamese” sandwich, which owner Amanda Ngo serves piled high with cured ham, pork belly, chicken liver pâté, and head cheese. How does it compare with the $3.50 banh mi’s you’ll find elsewhere in the city? The quality of ingredients, proximity to the Mission, generous portions, and overall flavor package make it well worth the extra buck and change.

The menu also has a good breadth of variety – including a fried chicken sandwich, a BBQ menu, and a veggie portobello tofu sandwich that can be made vegan if you ask for no mayo. According to Helen Tseng, “It’s as big as your head and contains about half an avocado”. Hit the jump for a closer look!

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Dust off those Big Lebowski quotes and those shoes you snagged from Albany Bowl, Mission Bowling Club is opening next Monday, March 17. For the first week, hours will be 6-11pm. It’s located at 3176 17th Street between Shotwell and South Van Ness.

Here’s a draft of the Anthony Myint-curated menu. Glad to see it contains such bowling alley classics as Blackened Catfish and Bucatini:

And here’s a making-of video to tide you over for the next few days:

[via Mission Loc@l]

I can’t get over the pictures of the Lung Shan staff from this week’s Vice feature on Mission Chinese Food.

I’ve always been fascinated with the dynamic between these grizzled Chinese cooks and their young, hip, culinary hot-shot restaurant-mates. In case you never bothered to look up at the sign, Mission Chinese Food rents its space from Lung Shan and has essentially taken over. Lung Shan’s menu is now largely ignored.

Mission Chinese chef Danny Bowien mentioned that the owners have operated the restaurant decades and never seemed concerned that business was slow, they just liked having a place to hang out. Sure enough, if you ever go in on a weekday during off-hours you’ll see them sitting at the round table in the back chatting and reading the papers. When you order something off their menu, one of them casually gets up, strolls to the kitchen, and cooks it.

I hear a lot of criticism of Mission Chinese Food from Asian Americans for not being authentic enough, notably from my parents who are restaurant owners themselves. But I don’t think that’s the point. Bowien has always admitted  that he’s still learning to cook Chinese food. Still, it’s clear his fresh approach has struck a chord with a generation that these old-timers could never reach.

Chinese food has sadly taken a turn towards the junk food genre in America, being generalized a cheap take-out experience. Did you know that Panda Express is in the running for the “Best of Milpitas” list in the category of “Best Chinese (overall)”? Shocking. Sometimes it takes an outsider to break out of the mold.

Me? I like both the old and the new. My grandfather was a cook in a restaurant much like Lung Shan while I was a kid. At home, his food wasn’t gourmet, but I’ll never forget such fusion creations as “vienna sausage fried rice” and “fried fish with ketchup”. Not exactly traditional. He also was fond of peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, something that I urge all discerning palates to try.

Sometimes I feel the urge to dust off my shitty 1st-grade-level Cantonese and ask these guys about how they feel about this new crop of oddly-dressed kids dining in their restaurant. But I’m sure they would answer like many folks of their generation do, with a subdued shrug and “business is good.”

Update:

Arlo tells us that the photos are by Alanna Hale. More great photos of the Lung Shan gang are on her site and tumblr.

Mission Bicycle has announced their new eight-speed bicycle, aptly named the Sutro (because you’ll probably need all those gears to make it all the way up there).

Frame designer Emmanuel Eng designed the Sutro with elegance in mind, including an internal gear hub and cables that are routed through the bike tubing. Like any other Mission Bicycle, you get to pick all the colors and bells and whistles.

Here’s a pretty video showing the Sutro in action: